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Battling against 3A Southwest opponents at the conference duals, the Powell Panthers started strong and fought till the end, finishing the weekend 4-0 in Pinedale.
Powell swept Lyman 3-0 in the …
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Battling against 3A Southwest opponents at the conference duals, the Powell Panthers started strong and fought till the end, finishing the weekend 4-0 in Pinedale.
Powell swept Lyman 3-0 in the opener before defeating Lander and Pinedale 3-1, then survived a Mountain View rally in the final match with a 3-2 victory in a thrilling five-set match.
“I was expecting a challenge from all four of the teams that we played, and we definitely got that,” coach Anna Flitner said. “I feel like towards the end of the two days we started getting a little bit fatigued and a little bit run down.”
(25-22, 25-23, 25-23)
The second placed Panthers (21-5-1 overall, 2-1 3A Northwest) started out with a matchup against the top team in the Southwest in the Eagles (15-13 overall, 3-0 3A Southwest).
Fresh legs played to the benefit of the Panthers, earning a first set win 25-22.
“Lyman actually was nice to play first when our legs were fresh,” Flitner said.
Two more close sets saw Lyman nearly claim a win in each, but the Panthers held on for consecutive 25-23 wins to earn the 3-0 sweep.
Catelynn Floy led with 14 kills, Leah Graham led with 35 assists and added 12 digs, and Alexa Richardson led with 13 digs.
Saige Kidd added nine kills, and led with 4.5 blocks and two aces alongside Addison Holcomb who had nine kills and two aces.
(21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17)
After the opening match victory against the top team in the Southwest the Panthers turned their attention to the Tigers (9-14 overall, 1-2 3A Southwest).
The Panthers came out slow against the Tigers, losing the first set 25-21 as Lander took the 1-0 lead.
“Every game we play is a learning experience,” Flitner said. “I feel like the challenge of dropping sets to these teams are good learning experiences, and help us rally when we get down or come back, and figure out what we need to change and how to adjust.”
The Panthers rebounded from that opening set loss, winning the next two sets 25-19 to take a 2-1 lead.
Powell finished off the match with a 25-17 victory to earn the 3-1 win.
Floy led with 10 kills, Graham led with 20 assists, Richardson and Holcomb tied for the team lead with 11 digs, Kodee Asay led with two blocks and Holcomb had five aces alongside her nine kills.
(26-24, 25-21, 19-25, 25-17)
On Saturday, the Panthers matched up with the host Wranglers (17-9-1 overall, 2-1 3A Southwest) looking for a road win to start the day.
A close first set went beyond the required 25 points, with the Panthers pulling just ahead of the Wranglers to earn the 26-24 win.
Powell again won a close set in the second 25-21 to take the 2-0 lead.
Pinedale would not be shut out, battling to a 25-19 third set win to set up a fourth.
In the fourth set the Panthers pushed ahead early and pulled away for a 25-17 win.
“Before when we had played Pinedale early in the season we split the sets because it was pool play, so it was nice to be able to play a full actual match against them,” Flitner said. “They’re a really solid team and they challenged us to find some different spots on the court. It helped us hone in on our serve-receive, so that was good, especially to play them on their home court was a good challenge for us.”
Holcomb led with 14 kills, Graham led with 27 assists, Richardson led with 19 digs just ahead of Holcomb with 15 and Floy with 12.
Asay, Kidd and Graham each had 1.5 blocks while Floy and Holcomb led with two aces each.
(25-18, 25-18, 28-30, 19-25, 19-17)
Wrapping up the weekend the Panthers took on the Buffalos (15-14 overall, 0-3 3A Southwest), hoping to finish the weekend unbeaten.
Powell came out strong, winning the first two sets by an identical 25-18 scoreline.
The Panthers nearly completed the sweep in the third set, reaching 24 points with a several point lead before the Buffalos battled back, forcing it to extra points and eventually winning 30-28 to force a fourth set.
Mountain View won that set 25-19, setting up a winner-take-all fifth set.
In that fifth set neither team was able to pull ahead significantly, as the two teams battled past the 15 point mark and eventually the Panthers pulled out the 19-17 win.
“That was huge for us to be in that situation because it doesn’t always occur,” Flitner said. “Once games are on the line for going to state, I have a feeling that it might look a lot like that for a lot of teams that we play. Getting that experience now is great for us.”
Powell will get back on the court this week with conference and nonconference opponents, starting with a match on the road against Worland at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
“They have some really great hitters so we’re going to try and put up a solid block, and we’ve been working on adjusting to big blocks ourselves,” Flitner said.
The Panthers then return home on Saturday, taking on Buffalo at 2 p.m. in a nonconference match.
“It’s always nice to kind of see the competition on the other side, and it also gives us a change up in terms of playing teams that we’re not playing regularly within our conference,” Flitner said. “It helps highlight some of our strengths and weaknesses when we’re playing teams outside our conference. I’m excited for that.”
(25-22, 25-23, 25-23)
Total blocks then solo blocks in ()
Kills — Catelynn Floy 14, Saige Kidd 9, Addison Holcomb 9, Kaedenze Carter 5, Kodee Asay 5, Leah Graham 2
Assists — Leah Graham 35, Addison Holcomb 4, Kodee Asay 2, Kaedenze Carter 1
Digs — Alexa Richardson 13, Leah Graham 12, Catelynn Floy 7, Addison Holcomb 5, Peyton Borcher 4, Saige Kidd 3, Kodee Asay 3, Kaedenze Carter 2
Blocks — Saige Kidd 4.5, Kodee Asay 3, Catelynn Floy .5, Leah Graham .5, Addison Holcomb .5
Aces — Saige Kidd 2, Addison Holcomb 2, Leah Graham 1
(21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17)
Kills — Catelynn Floy 10, Addison Holcomb 9, Saige Kidd 6, Kaedenze Carter 2, Kodee Asay 2, Leah Graham 2
Assists — Leah Graham 20, Saige Kidd 2, Addison Holcomb 2, Ava Teten 1
Digs — Alexa Richardson 11, Addison Holcomb 11, Catelynn Floy 8, Ava Teten 6, Leah Graham 3, Saige Kidd 1, Kodee Asay 1
Blocks — Kodee Asay 2, Saige Kidd 1.5, Catelynn Floy .5, Leah Graham .5, Addison Holcomb .5
Aces — Addison Holcomb 5, Alexa Richardson 1, Ava Teten 1
(26-24, 25-21, 19-25, 25-17)
Kills — Addison Holcomb 14, Catelynn Floy 9, Saige Kidd 8, Kodee Asay 4, Leah Graham 3, Kaedenze Carter 1
Assists — Leah Graham 27, Addison Holcomb 3, Peyton Borcher 2, Saige Kidd 2, Alexa Richardson 1, Kodee Asay 1
Digs — Alexa Richardson 19, Addison Holcomb 15, Catelynn Floy 12, Ava Teten 8, Leah Graham 7, Saige Kidd 5, Peyton Borcher 1, Kaedenze Carter 1, Kodee Asay 1
Blocks — Saige Kidd 1.5, Kodee Asay 1.5, Leah Graham 1.5, Kaedenze Carter 1, Catelynn Floy .5
Aces — Catelynn Floy 2, Addison Holcomb 2, Saige Kidd 1, Alexa Richardson 1
(25-18, 25-18, 28-30, 19-25, 19-17)
Kills — Addison Holcomb 14, Saige Kidd 13, Catelynn Floy 9, Kaedenze Carter 4, Kodee Asay 4, Leah Graham 3
Assists — Leah Graham 38, Addison Holcomb 2, Saige Kidd 1, Alexa Richardson 1, Kaedenze Carter 1, Kodee Asay 1
Digs — Alexa Richardson 18, Addison Holcomb 16, Catelynn Floy 10, Leah Graham 10, Peyton Borcher 5, Saige Kidd 2, Kaedenze Carter 2
Blocks — Saige Kidd 3, Kodee Asay 1.5, Leah Graham 1, Addison Holcomb 1, Kaedenze Carter .5
Aces — Saige Kidd 1, Alexa Richardson 1, Catelynn Floy 1, Leah Graham 1, Addison Holcomb 1
